HELICOPTERS operated by both Lancashire Police and the North West Air Ambulance will not be grounded in the wake of the Glasgow air disaster.

Air chiefs have confirmed that they will continue to rely on their Eurocopter 135s, the same model as the Police Scotland craft which crashed into a city pub on Friday, killing at least nine people.

The same model is deployed across the county’s skies by Lancashire Police, as part of the National Police Air Service. And the air ambulance works with the same supplier, Bond Air Services, as the Scottish police service.

Mark Gilmore, West Yorkshire’s chief constable, speaking on behalf of NPAS, said: “We have been in communication with Police Scotland and our suppliers within the aviation industry including the Civil Aviation Authority and are continuing to operate our service as normal. Safety remains the key priority for us in continuing to fly police missions in order to protect the public.”